Gun slide guiding devices



NOV. 19, 1968 F. A PACHMAYR ET AL 3,411,407

I GUN SLIDE GUIDING DEVICES Filed Deo. 29, 1966 fo@ iumiha W s A s A. xk

United States Patent 3,411,407 GUN SLIDE GUIDING DEVICES Frank A.Pachmayr and Edward B. Miller, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors toPachmayr Gun Works, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Dec. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 605,828 23 Claims. (Cl. 89-196)ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A gun having a slide which is guided yforfront to rear recoiling movement relative to the receiver and barrel ofthe gun upon firing, and including an element adapted to displace theslide slightly relative to the receiver and in a direction transverselyof the recoil axis in a relation overcoming any looseness in theguideway structure which mounts the slide for its recoiling movement.

This invention relates to improvements for increasing the accuracy of agun of the type having `a slide which recoils relative to the main bodyor receiver of the gun upon firing.

In an automatic pistol or other gun having a recoiling slide, it isoften very difficult to so mount the slide as to effectively confine itand guide it for only the `desired sliding movement, along apredetermined recoil axis, relative to the receiver. The intereng-agingguideways usually provided on the lreceiver and slide, for guiding theslide in its recoiling movement, lfrequently have sufficient loosenessto allow slight shifting movement of the slide relative to the receiveror body of the gun transversely of the Iaxis of recoil, so that theposition of the slide relative to the receiver is not preciselycontrolled or reliably predetermined. Consequently, inacuracies areintroduced into the firing of the gun, as a result of the discussedlooseness of the slide, so that the gun though aimed and -iired inexactly the same -rnanner for several rounds can not be relied upon toaccurately hit the same target on these various rounds.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a device forovercoming the diioulties discussed above, by eliminating the mentionedlooseness between the slide and body or receiver of the gun, so that theslide can not possibly under any circumstances move in any directionrelative to the receiver or body except ialong the desired predeterminedrecoil axis. As will appear, this result is accomplished by theprovision on the `gun of means operable to displace the slide veryslightly in a direction transversely of the main front to rear axis ofrecoil, to thereby overcome looseness which may initially be present inthat transverse direction. Desirably, the device functions to urge theslide both upwardly and laterally relative to the receiver, to thus takeup 4both vertical and horizontal looseness in the slide mounting.Further, the device may be structurally very simple and inexpensive, andmay interiit with the other parts of the gun in a manner avoiding anydetraction from the overall appearance of the gun.

To attain the above results, I preferably employ a takeup unit which ismounted pivotally to the receiver or main body of the gun, and whichupon pivotal movement will act against the slide in a manner displacingor urging it transversely of its main direction of sliding movement, andthus preventing any looseness in that transverse direction. A particularfeature of the invention resides in a preferred manner of mounting ofthis pivotal element with extreme simplicity, by means of the same pinwhich is utilized yfor mounting the usual slide stop element of the gun.-Optimum functioning and compactness of the overall assembly may beachieved by locating the present takeup element at the underside of thereceiver, preferably just forwardly of the trigger guard, with thetake-up elerice ment extending upwardly at opposite `sides of thereceiver in a manner engaging two lower edges of the slide. To take .uplateral looseness of the slide, the interengaging surfaces or edges ofthe take-up element and slide may have cammng configurations, for urgingthe slide laterally by a camming action to a predetermined optimumposition. Alternatively and in a second Vform of the invention, thetake-up element may have at one of its sides a tab or tabs acting tourge the slide laterally relative thereto, with these tabs preferablybeing resilient to take up looseness in the lateral direction.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be betterunderstood from the following detailed description of the typicalembodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an automatic pistol having a slide guide ortake up mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention, `withcertain portions of the gun being broken away to reveal the interiormechanism:

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sections taken on lines 2-2 and 3-3 respectively ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4 4 of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a variational `form ofthe invention; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the take-up element taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5(with the gun omitted for clarity).

Referring first to FIG. 1, I have shown at 10 an automatic pistol of awell known type, which may be considered as completely conventionalexcept for the provision of a slide guide or takeup unit 11, and forcertain changes made in the portions of the gun which coact with thisslide guide. More particularly, the gun includes an essentiallyconventional receiver or main body 12, to the upper side of which thereis mounted a slide 13 Iwhich is guided for recoiling |movement betweenthe full line and broken line positions of FIG. 1 along the axisdesignated 14. Within slide 13, there is provided the usual barrel 15 ofthe gun.

The handle portion 16 of the receiver contains a removable magazinerepresented at 17, which holds a series of shells or cartridges 18.During recoil of the gun, the cartridge case of the `fired round isejected from the breech end of barrel 15, and a next successive upperround within magazine 17 is fed upwardly from the magazine and into thebarrel, all in completely conventional manner.

Along much of its front to rear extent, the slide may ibe considered ashaving basically an inverted U-shaped cross section, as brought out inFIG. 4. At and near the particular vertical plane in which FIG. 3 istaken, this cross section is interrupted to form an upper opening 19through which the fired shells are ejected. At the forward end of theslide, this element has a downwardly projecting portion 20 which ishollow and essentially cylindrical, and receives the forward end of arecoil spring 21 which acts through a plug 22 to exert forward yieldingforce against the slide in a manner resisting rearward movement of theslide, and returning the slide forwardly to the full line position ofFIG. l after a recoiling action. The rear end of spring 21 actsrearwardly in conventional manner against an appropriate shoulder formedin the receiver 12. Toward its rear end, the slide is not hollow, butrather its cross section is `filled in to forlrn a forwardly facingshoulder 23 for shifting the rounds forwardly into the barrel, andclosing the breech end of the barrel during lfiring.

The lower edge portions 24 of slide 13 (FIG. 3) are shaped to formguideways which interfit with mating guideways on the receiver, whichmating guideways have forward portions extending along the upper edges25 of a generally U-shaped forward portion 26 of the receiver (locatedforwardly of and above the trigger guard or loop portion 27 of thereceiver and the contained firing trigger .28). More particularly, thelower edge portions 24 of the slide are shaped to contain two opposedinwardly directed guideway grooves 29, which extend parallel to axis 14and parallel to one another, and into which there extend two laterallyand oppositely directed parallel flanges 30 formed on and continuingrearwardly of portion 26 of the receiver. Beneath grooves 29, edgeportions 24 of the slide may have opposed inwardly directed anges orprojections 31 which also extend parallel to one another and parallel toaxis 14, and which are received within mating parallel axially extendinggrooves 32 formed in the receiver directly beneath anges 30. Thus, theseinterfitting guideway grooves and projections are intended to guide theslide for movement only along the axis 14 relative to the receiver, Ibutobviously can not be formed precisely enough to prevent some vertical orlateral looseness and freedom for movement of the slide relative to thereceiver, particularly after wear of the parts has enlarged the groovesor decreased the sizes of the anges.

For taking up this looseness in the slide mounting, the slide guide ortake-up unit designated 11 includes a main take-up part 33, havingVbetween its forward end surface 34 and a location 35 an essentiallyU-shaped cross section (see FIG. 4) to form a saddle extending about theunderside of the receiver and upwardly at its opposite sides. The upperedges of this U-shaped take-up part 33 have upper surfaces 36 whichengage upwardly against undersurfaces 37 formed on the bottom edges ofthe slide, so that part 33 may exert force upwardly against the slide ina manner taking up any vertical looseness in the guideway -grooves andprojections 29, 30, etc. As Will be apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, thesesurfaces 36 and 37 are preferably inclined as shown, to function ascaming surfaces, disposedat the angles a and b, so that these surfacestend to cam the slide laterally in a manner preventing lateral shiftingmovement of the slide relative to the receiver and part 33. Preferably,the surfaces 36 and 37 at one side of the slide are inclined in a firstdirection, while the corresponding surfaces at the opposite side `of theslide are inclined oppositely, so that the two sets of surfaces tend toearn the slide in two opposite directions, and thus act together topositively retain the slide against even the slightest lateral shiftingmovement.

Rearwardly beyond the location designated 35 in FIG. l, the bottomportion on the takeup or saddle part 33 is cut away at 38, so that thepart 33 forms two mounting arms 39 which extend rearwardly alongopposite sides of the receiver, directly above the trigger guardstructure. The inclined interengaging edge surfaces 36 and 37 of theslide 13 :and part 33 may continue rearwardly to substantially the rearends of arms 39, as will be apparent from FIG. 1. Each of the arms 39contains a circular opening 40, through which an externally cylindricalpin 41 extends in closely fitting relation, so that pin 41, whichextends along an axis 42 disposed essentially transversely of axis 14,mounts arms 39 and the rest of part 33 for upward land downward swingingmovement about axis 42. The pin 41 preferably is the same pinconventionally used for mounting the usual slide stop 42 at the outsideof the receiver, and for pivotally mounting a barrel supporting link 43within the receiver. Ordinarily, the pin 41 is integral with slide stop42, but in the present figures it is illustrated as formed separatelytherefrom in laccordance with the teachings f Patent Number 3,207,037.Pin 41 may have an enlarged head 44 outwardly beyond and serving toretain slide stop 42, with the stop having an opening 44 through whichthe pin extends in a manner mounting the stop for slight pivotalmovement about axis 42. At its opposite end, pin 41 -may have a groove46 containing a snap ring or other resilient Cil element 47 which isremovably received within the groove to retain the parts in assembledrelation.

Link 43 contains an opening 47 through which pin 41 extends, and hasanother opening 48 at its upper end which is connected by a pin 49 to apair of downwardly projecting arms 50 Lat the breech end of the barrel,so that the breech end of the barrel may swing slightly rearwardly andslightly downwardly as the link swings rearwardly about axis 42.

This link type mounting of the breech end of the barrel is generallyconventional, as is the illustrated manner of locating the forward endof the barrel by extension through a tubular bushing or sleeve 51 (FIG.l), which is mounted in fixed position relative to the slide 13, andwhich is rearwardly reciprocable along and relative to the barrel duringrecoiling motion.

Take-up part 33 is urged upwardly to take up looseness in the slidemounting by means of a screw 52 which is received within a downwardlyprojecting tubular portion 53 of part 33, and is disposed essentiallyabout an axis 54 which is generally parallel to axis 14. Screw hasexternal threads engaging internal threads within tubular portion 53 ofpart 33 at 55, so that rearward adjustment of the screw causes itsreduced diameter portion 56 to bear rearwardly against a verticaltransverse shoulder 57 formed in a cut-away or recess 58 provided in theforward portion of trigger guard 27. The tubular portion 53 of part 33may itself be cut away at 59 to follow the contour of trigger guard 27.A screwdriver slot 60 provided in the head of screw 52 allows adjustmentof the screw to any desired setting, while an O-ring 61 received withina groove 62 in the screw, and formed of neoprene rubber or anotherresilient material which by its resilience exerts yielding forceoutwardly against the inner cylindrical wall surface 63 of portion 53 ofp'art 33, introduces sufficient friction into the connection between thescrew and portion 53 to frictionally retain the screw in any adjustedposition to which it may be set.

In using the gun illustrated in FIGS. l through 4, a person may adjustscrew 52 so that the part 33 is swung upwardly about faxis 42 just farenough to cause surfaces 36 and 37 of part 33 and the slide to displacethe slide upwardly until all vertical looseness is taken out of theguideway connection 29, 30, etc. between these parts. The screw is heldin this adjusted setting by the friction of O-ring 61, so that the slidecan only move :along axis 14, and can not shift vertically at any time.Also, the ca-mming inclination of surfaces 36 and 37 prevents anylateral displacement of the slide relative to the receiver, so that theslide can not move in any direction transversely of axis 14.

As the guideway structures wear, screw 52 may be further adjusted toagain take up any newly introduced looseness, to always maintainaccuracy in the slide mounting. At the same time, however, the take-uppart 33 does not interfere in any way with the recoiling motion of theslide Aalong axis 14, or with the proper functioning of any of the otherparts of the gun. When the gun is fired, the gases produced in thebarrel cause the slide to recoil rearwardly to its broken line positionof FIG. 1, while the breech end of the barrel swings slightly rearwardlyand slightly downwardly, as link 43 swings rearwardly and downwardlyabout pin 41, until upon returning forward movement of the slide underthe influence of spring 21, the shoulder 23 of the slide displaces thebarrel forwardly to its initial battery position.

FIGS. 5 and `6 show a variational type of take-up part 33a which may beconsidered as identical with part 33 of FIGS. 1 to 4 except for themanner in which lateral looseness of the slide 13a is taken up. In thissecond fonm of the invention, the upper edges 36a of take-up part 33a,and the engaged lower edges 37a of the slide, are directly horizontal,rather than having the camming inclination of surfaces 36 and 37 of FIG.3, and in lieu of that camming configuration the saddle or take up part33a has one or more (preferably two) upwardly extending tabs 137 whichare integral with part 33a and extend upwardly therefrom at one side ofthe slide. These tabs have some resilience and yieldingly act inwardlyagainst the side of the slide, in the direction indicated at 138 in FIG.5, to urge the slide as far as it will go in that direction relative topart 33a and the receiver 12. To enable or increase Such resilience, thetake-up part 33a may contain slits 139 extending downwardly into themain body of that part beneath the level of edges 36a of the part, sothat the tabs 137 have substantial vertical extent. These tabs arepreferably always under resilient stress, to in all conditions apply thedesired lateral force against the slide in the direction 138 of FIG. 5,and thus take up all freedom for lateral motion of the slide. At thesame time, tabs 137 do not interfere in any way with the front to rearrecoiling movement of the slide. Also, it will be understood that part33a is adjusted in the same manner as is -part 33 of the iirst form ofthe invention, by an adjusting screw such as that shown at 52 or itsequivalent, to properly take up the vertical looseness of the slidewithout unduly binding the slide against recoiling movement.

I claim:

1. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding thelatter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front torear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightlyrelative to said receiver in a direction transversely of said guidewaymeans and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relationovercoming any looseness in said guideway means.

2. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned meansinclude an element mounted for pivotal movement and operable to displacesaid slide in said transverse direction relative to said receiver uponsaid pivotal movement.

3. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned means areessentially non-resilient and act to displace said slide in saiddirection essentially non-resiliently.

4. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned means areconstructed to apply displacing force to said slide relative to thereceiver in said transverse direction without exertion of said forcethrough or against said barrel.

5. For use with a gun having a receiver part, a barrel, and a slide partmounted by guideway means to recoil in a front to rear directionrelative to the receiver part; a device comprising a structure fordisplacing said slide part very slightly relative to said receiver partin a direction transversely of said guideway means and transversely ofsaid front to rear direction in a relation overcoming looseness of saidguideway means, and means for moving said structure relative to one ofsaid parts in a predetermined take-up direction.

6. A device as recited in claim 5, in which said structure includes anelement adapted to be connected pivotally to said receiver and havingtwo upwardly facing edges for engaging and bearing upwardly againstopposite sides of said slide part.

7. A device as recited in claim 6, in which said edges have oppositelylaterally inclined upper camming surfaces.

8. A device as recited in claim 6, in which said element has at leastone `projection extending upwardly beyond an adjacent one of said edgesfor laterally engaging and confining said slide part.

9. A ldevice as recited in claim 5, in which said last mentioned meansincludes a threaded member threadedly -adjustable to actuate saidstructure relative to said receiver part.

10. A device as recited in claim 5, in which said structure includes aUIAnerally U-shaped element adapted to extend about an undersurface ofsaid receiver part and having portions to extend upwardly at oppositesides of the receiver part with upper edges 'adapted to engage thereceiver part and urge it upwardly, said element having two arms forprojecting rearwardly and containing apertures for mounting the elementpivotally to said receiver part, said last mentioned means of claim 16including a screw threadedly connected to said element and adapted toadjustably bear rearwardly against said receiver part to pivot theelement forwardly and upwardly relative to the receiver.

11. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding thelatter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front torear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in adirection transversely of said guideway means .and transversely of saidfront to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in saidguideway means, said last mentioned means including an element mountedfor pivotal movement and operable to displace said slide in saidtransverse direction upon said pivotal movement, and means foradjustably moving said element pivotally relative to the receiver andthereby adjusting said transverse displacement of said slide.

12. A gun as recited in claim 11, in which said means for moving saidelement include an adjusting member threadedly connected to said elementand adjustably applying force to said receiver to adjustably pivot saidelement.

13. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding thelatter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front torear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in adirection transversely of said guideway means and transversely of saidfront to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in saidguideway means, said last mentioned means including an element mountedfor adjusting movement relative to said receiver and operable todisplace said slide in said transverse direction upon said movement, anda threaded adjusting member for moving said element to adjust saidtransverse displacement of the slide.

14. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,intertting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latterfor sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to reardirection, a slide stop, a pin mounting said stop for pivotal movementrelative to the receiver, and an element mounted by said pin for pivotalmovement and operable to displace said slide upwardly relative to thereceiver upon said pivotal movement in a relation overcoming anylooseness in said guideway means.

15. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in :a predetermined frontto rear direction and having two downwardly facing edges at oppositesides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,intertting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latterfor sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to reardirection, and means mounted movably to said receiver and operable toengage said two edges of the slide and displace them and the slideslightly upwardly in a relation overcoming any looseness in saidguideway means.

16. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in :a predetermined frontto rear direction and fhaving two downwardly facing edges at oppositesides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding thelatter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front torear direction, and an element movable relative to the receiver andextending about an underside of said receiver beneath the slide andhaving portions extending upwardly at opposite sides of the receiverpresenting upper edges engaging said edges of the slide to displace themand the slide slightly upwardly in a relation overcoming any loosenessin said guideway means.

17. A gun -as recited in claim 16, including means mounting said elementto the receiver for pivotal movement in a direction to displace saidedges of the slide upwardly, and a threaded adjusting member operable toadjustably pivot said element relative to the receiver.

18. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction and having two downwardly facing edges at oppositesides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding thelatter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front torear direction, and means mounted for movement relative to said receiverand having two edges engageable upwardly against said edges of the slideto displace said slide upwardly in a relation overcoming looseness insaid guideway means, said edges of the slide and of said last mentionedmeans having camming engagement tending to cam said edges of the slidein opposite lateral directions and to thereby confine the slide againstlater-al movement.

19. A gun comprising .a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted forrecoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in apredetermined front to rear direction and having two downwardly facingedges at opposite sides thereof, means yieldingly resisting saidrecoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver andslide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiverin said front to rear direction, an element mounted for -movementrelative to said receiver yand having two edges engageable upwardlyagainst said edges of the slide in a relation to displace the slideupwardly and thereby overcome looseness in said guideway means, and atleast one projection on said element extending upwardly past an adjacentone of said edges of the slide and engaging laterally against a side ofthe slide to take up lateral looseness thereof.

20. A gun comprising `a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted forrecoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in apredetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting saidrecoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver andslide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiverin said front to rear direction, a trigger, a linger receiving triggerguard thereabout, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in adirection transversely of said guideway means and transversely of saidfront to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in saidguideway means, said last mentioned means including means acting againstsaid trigger guard Iand against said slide in a relation to displace theslide relative to the trigger guard and relative to the remainder of thereceiver.

21. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoilingmovement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined frontto rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement,two sets of interfitting guideways on said receiver and slide atopposite sides thereof guiding the latter for sliding movement relativeto the receiver in said front to rear direction, said slide having twodownwardly facing edges at said opposite sides thereof, a trigger, afinger receiving trigger guard thereabout, a slide stop above saidtrigger guard, a horizontal pin mounting said stop pivotally, saidreceiver having a forward portion projecting forwardly beyond saidtrigger guard, an element extending about the underside of said forwardportion of the receiver and having portions extending upwardly .atopposite sides thereof presenting upper edges engaging said edges of theslide in a relation displacing the slide upwardly and overcominglooseness in said guideways, said element having arms at opposite sidesof the receiver containing apertures through which said pin extends tomount said element for pivotal movement, and an adjusting memberconnected to said element forwardly of said trigger guard and adjustablyexerting rearward force against the trigger guard in a relation to pivotthe element :and thereby apply upward force against the slide throughsaid edges.

22. A gun as recited in claim 21, in which said edges of the slide andelement at one side thereof are inclined in a first camming direction tocam the slide in a first lateral direction :and said edges at the otherside are inclined oppositely to cam the slide in the opposite lateraldirection.

23. A gun as recited in claim 21, in which said element has at least one,projection lat one side of said slide projecting upwardly alongside andengaging the slide to displace it laterally.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,627,686 2/1953 Shockey 89-196 XBENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary` Examiner.

S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner.

